Scottadito is Italian for a finger burn, and it’s also the name of a dish of lamb on the bone that is apparently so delicious that people burn their fingers in their eagerness to pick it up and eat it. An interpretation of that is now on the menu at Alta Strada in Fairfax, Va.
Arroz con Mango, is Cuban slang for a mess, but of course it literally means “rice with mango,” which is, in fact, a delicious combination when in the hands of Thai cooks, who serve very ripe mango at the height of its season (March to May) with sticky rice cooked with sweetened coconut milk. Carlos Hidalgo, chef of La Cumbancha – which is itself an Afro-Cuban term for a fun music-filled gathering — makes his own version of the Thai dish, using three different forms of coconut milk reminiscent of the sweet Latin American combination of tres leches. It’s all a big multicultural festival in one dessert.
In New York City. at the new Ketchy Shuby is SoHo, maitake mushrooms take center stage and are served in a dashi-like broth with ramen, and at Deschutes Brewery’s Portland Public House in Portland, Ore., the brewery’s own porter is used to make a sausage that’s served over ravioli.
Finally, in San Francisco, the new Movida Lounge offers a savory, vegetal, and spicy mezcal cocktail with dill, bay leaves, carrot juice, and more.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
